The Snowman
by BrittSmiles4BTR
Summary: After a terrible snowstorm the night before left all schools closed... And you know what that means, right? Snow day! What could possibly go wrong? Dedicated to Dalma22! Enjoy!


**Hey, guys! I'm back! So, while I was working on Chapter Seven of They Won't Understand, I got a PM from Dalma22 requesting if I could write her a story. And the idea she had in mind was so adorable; how could I have said no? So here it is! I hope you like it!**

The Snowman

In the ten years that she'd been alive, Katie never would have thought that silence could be so loud.

Every fiber in her being was telling her to abort the mission as she stood in the hallway outside her brother's room, but then she remembered that she'd spent all morning just trying to gather the courage to ask. If she backed out now and didn't go through with it, she didn't think she ever would.

That day just so happened to be a Monday; but not just any Monday. This Monday was coincidentally the first Monday back from a long weekend. Well, at least it _should_ have been. Although they were _supposed_ to be in school, and a horrible snow storm the night before had left schools no choice but to close down and clean up. In other words, it was a snowday! And it was a Knight family tradition that on the first snow day of year, they go out and build a snowman.

But it had been years since they'd upheld that tradition; legend had it that the last time Katie and Kendall had built a snowman together was when Katie was four; six years ago. Why would they suddenly stop such a precious family tradition?

It was because Kendall had _changed_.

When they were younger, Katie and Kendall had always been so close. Since the day that they'd brought Katie home from the hospital, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Kendall loved his little sister. He had been the best big brother that he could. He'd done everything from singing to her, to taking care of her when she was sick, to helping her when she was hurt, to being there to protect her when the monsters appeared under her bed. And for the first short years of her life, the two were inseparable.

But as the years went on, Katie and Kendall's relationship began to dwindle, and they moved further and further apart.

At Katie's younger age, she'd always assumed that it was simply because Kendall thought that she had cooties. She always figured that he would just grow out of it eventually and they would be friends again. But as they grew older, Katie slowly began to realize that the minute Kendall had hit the age of ten, his life was became solely about impressing his friends. Impressing his friends meant that he had to prove that he was cool, and for whatever the reason, "cool" meant that he had to be too macho to hang out with his sister.

But the strange part of it all was that his friends didn't even seem to mind that she was around, they actually seemed to kind of enjoy her company. But whenever they were around, Kendall acted like he was too cool to be around her and very often sent her away.

Years later, Kendall was sixteen- a junior in high school- and still had the same attitude towards her. The last thing he wanted was to be seen in public with his baby sister.

Katie stood frozen on the other end of the door, contemplating whether or not she should enter. Her brother was prone to get angry when he was interrupted during his music sessions.

_It's not like he's actually going to say yes anyway_... The little voice in the back of her mind berated.

She tried to push those negative thoughts to the back of her mind. She took in a big breath of air and willed her hand to move up away from her side and towards the door. At first she hesitated, but she managed to force herself to give the wooden door a few strong knocks. The wood were cool against her knuckles, and as she waited for a response she leaned forward to rest her head against it.

The soft sound of a guitar being strummed on the other side had her in a trance in a matter of seconds. Instantly, her mind was reminiscing about the days when she would curl up next to Kendall in his bed and just listen to him singing until she fell asleep.

That was one thing that absolutely no one knew about Kendall; he loved to sing. He would sing all the time; at meal times, while doing his homework... He just loved to sing, and he was really good at it too, though he would never sing in front of his friends; but it wasn't because he thought that they would make fun of him for it. His friend's were actually some of the least judgmental people he'd ever met in his life. No, he never told his friends that he could sing because that was his friend, James', dream and he didn't want to take it away from him. Besides, he wanted to focus on his dream of becoming a professional hockey player.

"_Come in_." Katie's head snapped up, staring blankly at the door with wide eyes. Katie's heart skipped a beat when she realized she'd heard the voice her brother speaking on the other side. She hadn't been expecting him to actually _answer_! The fear of rejection was becoming overbearing, but she figured that if the worst thing that could happen was he say no, she mine as well try.

Katie tried her hardest to keep her breathing in check, but her erratic heartbeat pounding against her chest made it extremely hard to do so. Her shaky hand managed to find the doorknob and she pushed the door open a creak.

Kendall had his back to the door, strumming carelessly on his guitar and humming the verse to a song. She tried to inch into the room as quietly as possible, trying to prolong interrupting him for as long as she could. Before she knew it, she was right behind him, and the song he'd been singing had become more clear.

"_Don't say a word just come over and lie here with me... 'Cause I'm just about to set fire to everything I see..._" She loved that song; it was one of Kendall's go to songs to sing when he needed inspiration. She almost hated to stop him, just wanting to stand there forever and listen to him sing, but then she remembered that he'd gone in there for a reason.

Cautiously, she reached out and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, Kendall." she asked in a tiny voice.

Kendall stopped strumming, turning in his chair to look to see who it was. He beamed when he recognized her face. "Hey, Katie!" he greeted with a smile as he set his guitar beside him. "What's up?"

At first, Katie didn't know what to say. She was shocked that Kendall was even talking to her and frankly, she didn't even think that she would get this far. She sucked yet another deep breath. "Well, I was kind of wondering, do you want to play in the snow with me?"

Kendall looked conflicted for a moment, his gaze flicking between his guitar on the floor and his sister. "Katie, I love you, but I'm kind of busy right now." Kendall had told her that all the time, that he loved her, but lately, she was starting to doubt it. Katie felt a lump forming in her throat; even though she was almost expecting Kendall to say no, she was still kind of hoping that he would surprise her and say yes.

"Oh, come on, big brother; you've been playing your guitar all day and we never hang out anymore." Kendall looked back down at the ground, his eyebrows furrowed as if he were thinking it over. "Come on, don't you want to build a snowman?" She asked, holding up the scarf in one hand, and a carrot and two lumps of coal in the other.

"Katie, we'll play later ok?" Kendall tried to reason with his little sister.

"Oh, come on, please." She pleaded, clasping her hands beneath her chin and jolting her lower lip in a pout that trembled ever so slightly. He tried hard not to look at her eyes, which were now big and puppy- dog like, for the solemn look on his face was beginning to falter.

"No, no, no! Katie, I told you I'd play later." He said sternly, in that firm, _no- means- no_ tone of voice that only a big brother could manage.

Katie wanted to argue, she wanted to fight back with every fiber in her body but she knew that it wouldn't be worth it; because she had to admit, she knew that the chance of Kendall playing in the snow was a long shot. She'd rather surrender now and have a chance of playing with Kendall later in the day than argue with him, and risk the chance of angering him and then not playing with him at all. So she sighed in defeat, taking her lost battle with dignity.

"Ok, big brother, I'll go play by myself. I'm sorry for bothering you." And without another word, she turned on her heel and made a hasty retreat back the way she came. Just as she was getting to the door, she could hear the sound of a guitar being picked up off the floor.

As the infectious sound of cords being strummed echoed through the room, she tried her hardest to keep the tears from falling down her face. She wasn't going to cry over this. Still, she couldn't help but feel dejected as the pang in her chest throbbed. She swiped her hand across her face as the few tears had managed to slip from her eyes and roll down her cheeks.

She thought that maybe, if worse comes to worse, she could always wait for her mother to come home from work and ask to play with her, but who knew when that would be? _Playing in the snow's not any fun when you're by yourself._

With a heavy heart, she proceeded down the steps and to the front door. She readjusted her hat and mittens, and made sure that her scarf, earmuffs and boots all were all securely in place. She scrubbed furiously at the tears as they threatened to spill from her eyes yet again fearing that they'd become crystalized if she stepped outside; she sniffled as her cotton gloves absorbed the moisture.

She unlocked the front door and pulled it open. A blast of cool air, followed by millions of snowflakes blew into her face and she sighed, preparing herself for the cold that she was about to endure. But before she could even step outside, a voice beckoned her to wait.

Warmth slowly began to flow back to her chest. She turned around and a smile crept across her face at what she saw. Kendall was in the midst of throwing a scarf around his neck, and was all bundled up in his winter jacket. His favorite woolen beanie was placed atop his head and his hands were secured with his winter gloves.

"I thought it over, and I suppose that there's no harm in making _one_ snowman," he said with a smile, holding up his finger to emphasis that he was only going to make one snowman. "but then we're coming inside, deal?" he bargained, giving her a thumbs up.

"Deal!" she smiled, taking his hand and all but dragging him out the door.

Katie let out a squeal of delight as she hopped off the front porch and into their yard. The snow was already up to her knees and she could feel that it was thick on the bottom, good for compacting and building snowballs and snowmen, but it was covered by a small layer of fresh and fluffy snow, perfect for snow angels.

She picked up a handful of the freshly fallen show and blew it away as if it were pixie dust, mystified as it fluttered to the ground. Kendall watched her do so, nearly melting at his kid sister's cuteness; whenever she did that, it always made him think of the Holiday commercial they always played around the holiday season, (the one where the little girl makes a snowman).

"Hey, Katie!" Kendall called, and Katie bolted towards him. He was already on his knees, rolling up the body of the snowman. "Help me out, Baby Sister!"

"Ok, Big Brother!" she complied, grunting as she attempted to push the ball across the ground. The body of the snow man was getting bigger and bigger, and the fact that they were trying to roll it up hill didn't help them any.

"Come on, muscles; help me!" He joked, giving her a playful nudge.

She scoffed. "Hey, I am doing the best I can!"

Kendall chuckled, given the massive ball of snow one last shove. "Alright stop!" He instructed, throwing an arm out to halt Katie in her tracks. "It's perfect! Now I'll make the body, you make the head."

Katie nodded, crawling over to the untouched patch of snow closer to the house. Sitting on her knees, she scooped up a bunch of snow into a pile before eventually forming a nice head.

After gathering the bundle of snow into her arms, she quickly waddled back over to Kendall, who had just finished putting the finishing touches on the body. He lifted up the body, grunting at the unexpected weight, and nodded at Katie. "Ok, ready?" he asked, and she nodded eagerly. He chuckled wholeheartedly and piled it on, patting it down for good measure.

The smile on Katie's face vanished in a moment of realization, looking uneasily between Kendall, the head, and the unfinished snowman.

Kendall noticed the apprehension in her eyes, and arched an eyebrow. "What?" he asked, looking at everything she'd looked at. He smoothed out the lumps on the snowman, wondering if that was what she was looking at. "What's the problem?"

"The snowman..."

Kendall looked at the snowman, then back at Katie. "Yes, it's a snowman. What about it?"

"It's huge!" she muttered, and Kendall had to refrain from hitting his forehead. He couldn't believe that he hadn't realized it! Kendall was a relatively tall guy; so of course he had failed to notice that the snowman that they were constructing was already taller than his little sister! "Right, I see you're point." He said, scratching the top of his head.

Swiftly, he grabbed her under her arms and lifted her up so she could place the head on the top of the snowman's body. He had to bite his tongue to keep the back the "awws," forming in his throat as she watched her smooth out the bumps just as he had done.

Smiling in content, he made a move to lower her back to the ground when she screeched, "Wait!"

Puzzled, he held her back up to the top of the snowman. He didn't understand what she was doing until she was unwrapping the scarf around her neck and threw it around the snowman's neck. Then she rummaged through her pockets for the coal and baby carrot she'd stashed in there for safe keeping. She placed two pieces in the middle for eyes, another in the middle for a nose, then carved in a smile. She clapped the snow off her hands, turning her head back to Kendall. "Ok, I'm done; you can let me down now." He did so without complaint.

"Ok, looking good! Alright, now let's head inside before you catch a cold." Kendall said, nodding his head towards the house, inching back.

Katie reached out and grabbed his hand, smiling brightly. "We're not done yet!"

"I thought you said you were done!"

"I was only done with the head, besides, what's a snowman without buttons?" Katie said with a giggle as she dug out two more pieces of coal. She took Kendall's wrist and dropped them into the palm of his hand. Kendall looked back Katie, slightly bewildered as he fiddled with the items in his hand. Katie rolled his eyes, giving Kendall in the direction of the house. "Well, come one Kendall, snowmen don't put buttons on themselves." Kendall felt touched, Katie always decorated the snowman; it's been like since Katie was old enough to play in the snow. And to have her bestow the honor of being able to do it really touched his heart.

Once he was satisfied with his work, he stepped back admire their work. Katie smiled bright as she came to stand by his side. Kendall looked down at his sister, grinning a grin of his own as he draped an arm around her shoulder. "You know," he began, gaining the smaller girl's attention. "I think that this was our best snowman in a long time!"

If it were even possible, she smiled even brighter, a light smile becoming evident on her face. "I couldn't agree more."

Kendall clapped her shoulder, rubbing it affectionately as he pulled her closer. "This was actually really nice. I'm glad you convinced me to come out here!" He commented confidently, giving her shoulder one last squeeze. He then let go of her to grab the phone in his jacket pocket. "Katie, why don't you get over there so I can take a picture?" He suggested, his eyes never leaving the touch screen as he scrolled through his apps until he got to he camera. He was slightly surprised when he didn't hear a response, or footsteps in the snow, or anything. "Katie?" He called, looking up from his phone and his heart sank when he realized that his sister was nowhere to be found! "Katie!"

He checked behind the snow man. _No!_

He checked to see if she had his behind the tree in their yard. _Nope!_

He even did a lap around the house. _Nothing!_

A sense of panic errupted in the teenager's stomach, his face twisting in worry. He took off his hat and passed a hand through his hair. He let go of her for two seconds and she was gone. How was that even possible? He had to call his mother. He had to call her and explain what happened! His mother was going to kill him! How could he have-?

Kendall's head jerked backwards as something cold collided with his face. He swiped his hand across his face and examined his glove. Seeing the white, flaky particles made him realize that he had just been hit with a snowball.

He scanned the yard trying to find where it had come from; that's when he saw a winter cap moving in in the corner of his eyes. He directed his eyes to the snow covered bush where he'd seen the hat moving and let his eyes shift to his sister. "Katie?" Kendall warned, but the girl didn't move. "Katie, I know you're there; I can see you!"

Katie comically popped into view, smirking deviously at the snowball clenched in her hand. "What's the matter, Big Brother? Afraid of a little snowball?" Katie teased, her tone of voice was high as if she were talking to a little kid.

Kendall rolled his eyes. "Katie, that wasn't funny! You almost gave me a heart attack!" He said, taking a step forward; Katie raised her arm to strike. "Katie!" He warned again, this time pointing an accusing finger at her, but Katie only raised her arm higher. "Throw that snowball, and I-?" It was too late. He didn't have time to finish the sentence before the big clump of snow was sailing towards him. Before he could even think about ducking, the snowball was colliding with his nose and splattering all over his face.

Katie clasped her hands over her mouth to stiffen the laughter that was bubbling in her throat. It didn't work out too well because as Kendall swiped his hand across his face again to rid it of it's icy, cold present, he could very faintly hear the sound of his sister's excessive giggling. "Oh, it's on!"

Then, without any warning, Kendall practically threw himself at their unsuspecting brother. At that moment, Katie took notice of them. She stopped her laughing and took off as they began to gain.

"That's a cheap shot! Take the kid down when she's not even looking'!" She yelled as to swung around the tree. She giggled maniacally as she shot passed the deck and back into the open yard. "You can't catch me!" She shouted over her shoulder.

Kendall tried his hardest to hide the smile forming on his face; those moments right there had been some of the most fun he'd had with Katie since he had started to undergo "the changes" their mother had told him about.

Katie was struggling to stay in the lead, being that Kendall was the older, faster one out of the two. She tried her best to ignore the pain that was rushing up and down her throat and chest; throwing handfuls of snow at him as she zipped passed him.

He was gaining, practically right in her heels, just barely out of reach to snag her by the hood of her jacket. She could feel his finger tips graze the purple fabric before she spun away and shot in the other direction. Kendall attempted to do the same, coming close to succeeding but ended up falling on his face.

Kendall rolled onto his back, groaning in discomfort as he, once again, wiped the snow off of his face. When he looked back up at Katie just as she was turning to face him. While Kendall heaving deep breaths, he deadpanned, staring at Katie with wide eyes. Needless to say, he was a little bit surprised to find his sister had hardly broken a sweat, and her breathing was relatively under control.

Kendall used his elbows to push himself into a slightly more comfortable position, his eyes never left Katie's while he pondered what she was going to do next. Her features were laced with a mischievous glint in her eye; that was never a good sign.

She must have seen the look on his face, because he'd taken his eyes off of her for a millisecond- he thought he saw his mother backing into the driveway- she was charging back to him, leaping and suddenly, she was sitting on his stomach.

"_Omph_!" Well, it was more like she tackled him and wrestled her way onto her stomach. _Eh, same diff,_ she shrugged.

"Katie, what are you going to do?" Kendall asked cautiously, trying to squirm under the newly found weight without hurting his sister.

Said child didn't say a word as she turned over. Kendall tried to see what she was doing, but it was already to late, because in a split second she spun back. He didn't even have the time to see what she had in her hand before something cold was being dumped onto his face. "Face wash!" She screamed and Kendall squeezed his eyes shut tight as she smushed snow on his face.

The snow on his face felt cold, but it wasn't hard like the ice he'd seen hanging off the side of his house and it didn't scratching his face like he thought it would. In fact, it was the soft, powder-like stuff that melted instantly on his face.

Finally, he was able to buck her off and he leaped back to his feet, glaring daggers as his sister on the ground. The sight of Kendall's face now red, wet and dripping as he tried to dry it off was simply priceless to Katie. It took most of her will power not to laugh, and she shrunk back at the holes being drilled into her head.

"Now, Kendall." She stammered in a vain attempt to calm the taller boy down. She threw her hands in a defensive position. "Let's not do anything we're going to regret now." Kendall didn't even seem to be listening to her, but a creepy mischievous smile spread across his face. "Kendall?" she tried again, but got nothing in response. _Oh no, I broke him! _

Katie stood up, taking cautious steps towards him, although he had yet to move. "Kendall," she asked, her voice was barely above a whisper. She gulped when he didn't respond again. She inwardly groaned, her mother was going to kill her.

She let out a scream as Kendall grabbed her by the wrist. With little effort, he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder as if she were nothing but a sack of potatoes.

As Kendall carried the ten year old back into the house and up the stairs, Katie was trying to get free, all the while screaming to be let down, protesting and complaining about how "beyond unfair this was". Kendall just ignored her and adjusted her on his shoulder when ever she moved too much.

He quickly moved back to his room, where he dumped her onto his bed. Katie scrambled to get off, only to be pushed back down by Kendall.

Kendall ripped off her jacket, tossing it onto the floor beside his bed. He smiled a menacing grin that sent a chill down Katie's side.

"Kendall, what are you doing?" Katie demanded frantically as Kendall wiggled his fingers.

"I'm getting my vengeance, baby sister," He mumbled, pushing back down when she attempted to sit up. "And it's going to be sweet!"

Katie's eyes widened and suddenly, his fingers were attacking her sides, the most ticklish part on her body.

"Hey!" Katie giggled as Kendall tickled her belly. "Cut it out!' she tried to shove Kendall's hands away without laughing any harder than she already was. Unfortunately the boy was relentless and refused to cease. "Stop it Kendall!" Katie chided, laughing harder when Kendall's tickling became more ruthless. Her breathing was becoming more and more labored and the tears were beginning to roll in. She struggled harder as Kendall sat on her legs and tickled her feet.

"Kendall, please! I can't breath!" Katie begged between laughter as he climbed onto her belly, but Kendall wasn't listening, she just proceeded in her tickling her under her arms.

Katie's laughter rang through the entire room as she continued to struggle. Her stomach and chest hurt terrible from the abnormal breathing the non-stop tickling was causing her. And even though the tickling had only lasted for a few short minutes, to Katie, it seemed to last an eternity.

Finally, the tickling began to cease, even though he really didn't want to; he enjoyed seeing Katie get her comeuppance. But he stopped nonetheless, and Katie's eyes widened when she saw Kendall's face become a mixture of solemn, stern and playful. "Alright Katie, are you ready to apologize for the Face Wash?" Kendall asked, repositioning himself on Katie's side, but keeping a firm grip on her shoulder.

Katie wanted to say something like, "Never!" or "Over my dead body!" but she couldn't bring herself to say anything. By now, she was completely out of breath because of the senseless tickling she'd just endured, besides, she couldn't surrender to her older brother; no matter how bad the tickling.

Katie gasped and watched cautiously as he pulled her shirt, exposing her belly, but refused to speak. "Alright, you leave me no choice." Her breath caught again when Kendall crawled onto her stomach once again. Without any warning what so ever, Kendall blew raspberries into her stomach. Katie screamed in laughter.

"Are you ready to apologize yet?" he asked with a smirk; the smile on his face growing with every blow against her stomach.

"I'm going to kill you!" Katie yelled between laughter. Finally, he stopped and Katie released another sigh of relief. Kendall smiled evilly at her. Katie had seen the look on his face but it was already too late. Kendall attacked her sides again, making Katie explode in laughter. "Okay, okay! You win!"

Kendall beamed as he let go of and then sat beside Katie. She pushed herself up cautiously when she was released. Her stomach still ached; her breath was still slightly labored. She looked uneasily at Kendall as she tried to even out her breathing.

"Are you sorry for what you did, now?" He asked, but only got the sound of her slow, steady breathing in response. When he didn't get any other response, he went to go tickle her again, but was stopped when her foot pushing against his chest held him back.

"Y-Yeah! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she yelled, looking up at him with big pleading eyes. "J-Just don't t-tickle me again!"

Kendall smirked, exposing his perfect, white teeth as he grinned down at her. He pretended to think it over as for a moment before nodding. "Oh, alright."

Katie let out an exasperated breath as she collapsing on his bed. He chuckled as lay down beside her as she tried desperately to catch her breath. Kendall was kind of taken aback as Katie crawled up and placed her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

And at that moment, everything was perfect...

Something vibrating against his pocket made him jump. He gently readjusted Katie into a more comfortable position on his shoulder. Katie pouted at this, nut it only lasted for a moment or two while he was fishing his phone out from his pocket.

He totally forgot that he still had his phone in his pocket.

Katie listened carefully to the sound of him flipping open his phone and then tapping buttons on the keypad. She was fairly intrigued, watching the teen search through it. Finally, the button clicking ceased. "Who was that, Kendall? Who are you texting?" Katie finally asked.

Kendall frowned.

_Hey, Kendall! I know I promised you guys that we would stay up to watch movies tonight, but I got held up at work. It doesn't look like I'll be able to get home until late. Tuck Katie in and tell her that I'll see you both in the morning. I love you!_

He read and reread the text, over and over, just to make sure that he had it right. She couldn't have been doing this, not today! Not when everything was going so perfectly! He stared at his phone, then broke the gaze to look at Katie. Her eyes were wide with worry and curiosity; they had had just a great day, he didn't want to spoil it for her with such depressing news.

He quickly shut his phone before she could see. "No one..." he said, after sitting in silence for a moment or two. He stuffed the phone back in his pocket, trying hard to ignore Katie's puzzled expression. An idea popped into his head, and he carefully slid out from under Katie to sit up in his bed. "Say, what do you say that we go get some hot chocolate?"

Katie sat up as well. "Really?"

"Yeah!'

Without another word, the two scurried down to the kitchen. And before long, they were snuggling together on the couch watching Holiday Specials on the TV, sipping their hot chocolate.

As the movie began to draw to a close, Kendall once again draped an arm around her shoulder and she rested her head on his shoulder. "Love you, Baby Sister." He muttered, placing a chaste kiss on top of her head.

"I love you too, Big Brother." She whispered back, snuggling closer to his chest.

Kendall sighed contently, and even though he was sad that his mother couldn't be there to enjoy this priceless family moment, he couldn't have asked for a better day. She couldn't have asked for a better brother.

**Well, what did you think? Did you hate it? Like it? Love it? Well, whatever you were thinking, just let me know with a review. Or even a PM. **

**Well, that's it for now. Until next time, remember:**

**Peace, Love and Happiness!**

**-BrittSmiles4BTR**


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